


This is not the time, Miss Swan (or the time Regina got her period and Emma was adorable about it)

by Skye_La



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Henry being the biggest Swan Queen shipper there is, Literally everyone knows except these two, Period chat, Post-Dark Swan Arc, Regina being grumpy, Robin Hood Bashing, Swan-Mills Family, emma being adorable, potential for feminist rants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-20 00:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5985634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_La/pseuds/Skye_La
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina gets her first period in decades as a result of Emma's healing after the battle of the dark ones. When Emma realises she steps up to help, though Regina is reluctant to accept it.</p><p>No CS, light Robin bashing, period jokes, Swan-Mills family fluff.</p><p>-</p><p>“When was the last time you had a period?”</p><p>“Before you were born” Emma’s mouth falls open and she stares unintentionally. For a moment she contemplates never having to have a period again, and then how awful it would be just to start getting them again. “Miss Swan, give me 5 days and I’ll see to it that you’re-”</p><p>“Yeah fine, destroy my happiness, punish me, whatever.” Emma waves. The groan of pain Regina lets out is completely involuntary. “Shit, I’ll be back in 20 minutes”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for all your lovely comments and kudos! I hope you like the update =) <3

Regina is lying face down across her bed. She’s not even in it. She’s not even the right way around.

“Regina?” Emma rushes to her side

“Emma?” She looks up with glassy eyes for a moment before speaking “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Uh, Henry said you were like, dying”

It looks like a snappy retort is on Regina’s lips but doesn’t make it past them. She groans and her face turns back into the plush bedspread.

“Seriously, are you ok?” Emma asks, starting to panic. She knows from various catastrophic magical experiences that Regina’s threshold for, and ability to hide pain are particularly robust.

“Yes. Go away” Regina says into her duvet. Emma’s hands are on her hips as she watches her curl around onto her side. Regina huffs out a breath. “Emma. All you can do for me is find the painkillers. The bottle is white with a red top-”

Emma’s holding it before she finishes her sentence “It’s empty” 

Regina looks up as she shakes it, not a single rattle. She deflates further “Then I have no use for you”

“For real, Regina, what is up? Henry thinks you’re gonna die and to be honest, I’m not convinced he’s wrong” Regina’s hands move to her stomach and she breathes out slowly through pursed lips. “Are you?...Is this?....Regina are you on your period?”

“Emma you are this close-”

“To what? Getting my ass kicked in a week when you can move again? Why didn’t you just say? Is it always like this?”

Regina is quiet for a moment frowning as she tries to find the right words. “Do you remember saving me when we took the darkness back out of you?”

“When you nearly died? Uh yeah, it rings a bell” Emma crosses her arms over her chest

“Well” Regina manages an eye-roll “I think you fixed more than the damage the darkness did when you healed me”

“What are you saying?” 

She isn’t going to respond this time. Her frown is one of stubborn irritation, judging by the way her lips settle to a thin line.

“When was the last time you had a period?”

“Before you were born” Emma’s mouth falls open and she stares unintentionally. For a moment she contemplates never having to have a period again, and then how awful it would be just to start getting them again. “Miss Swan, give me 5 days and I’ll see to it that you’re-”

“Yeah fine, destroy my happiness, punish me, whatever.” Emma waves. The groan of pain Regina lets out is completely involuntary. “Shit, I’ll be back in 20 minutes”

“Please don’t bother” 

“Maybe 15” Emma says, from the hallway where Henry loiters nervously. “She’s gonna be fine, kid. Make her a hot water bottle, I’ll be back soon. 10 minutes”

-

Emma reappears with what looks suspiciously like one of Snow’s floral shopping bags filled with supplies.

“Ok” she says, reentering Regina’s room. She hasn’t moved except to curl around the hot water bottle from Henry.

Emma lists what she has brought and piles everything onto the nightstand “Pain killers, raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil, iron tablets, this weird pillow thing my mom gave me-”

“You told Snow?!” she croaks with indigence

“Regina, what is your problem? Lot’s of people get periods. Um, so, do you have...supplies?”

“Oh my god” Regina’s face turns into the duvet again. 

“Well I bought some and I’m putting them in your bathroom” Emma says, walking around the other side of the bed towards the en suite.

Regina sighs deeply. “What did you buy?”

“Everything”

“I mean, what sanitary supplies did you get?”

“I got everything” Regina’s eyebrows raise slowly as she watches her leave the bag on the sink. She runs the tap until the water is cold and fills up a glass. “But right now, take these” she passes the water to Regina once she has struggled to a sitting position. “Henry said you've had breakfast. Any problems with anti inflammatories?” Regina shakes her head “Good, swallow these” she says, opening all the bottles of pills and vitamins and dropping one of each into Regina’s open hand.

While she’s listening to her gulp down medication Emma opens a dresser drawer. It’s full of lacy things and the tips of her ears turn pink. She throws it closed and tries the next one down. Pyjamas, bingo.

“It’s the middle of the day, Miss Swan, I’m not wearing pyjamas.” Regina complains, watching her. There might be a slight blush on her cheeks.

“Yes you are, Ms Mills. Here, put these on, I’m gonna go make tea.”

“Have you ever made tea before?”

“There are instructions on the box, Regina”

“Exactly. Have you ever followed instructions?”

Emma smiles sarcastically. “I’ll be back soon. PJs, now!” She closes the door.

-

Emma nudges open Regina’s bedroom door to find her sitting in bed, in pyjamas, clutching the hot water bottle. She enters, carrying a tea tray and Henry follows with a bag of snacks.

“What is this?” 

“We’re hanging out. We’re gonna put old movies on and eat junk and get you whatever you need”

Regina looks equal parts angry and touched and like she’s having trouble with both. Emma ignores her non-reaction and climbs onto the bed as Henry climbs into it on the other. 

Regina drinks the tea without complaint, which doesn’t mean it’s good, it just means she’s not complaining about it. She periodically sucks her breath in sharply and rubs her stomach. Henry rubs her arm sometimes and Emma finds more pillows from a cupboard in the hall.

Henry falls asleep with his arm around Regina’s middle during Some Like It Hot. It was Emma’s choice of movie, one of her favourites. Her shoulder is touching Regina’s and neither of them have rectified it. Regina hasn’t gone for any of the snacks, despite being offered everything that Emma and Henry have opened, that is until she reaches for a packet of white chocolate buttons.

“No fucking way” Emma gapes. Regina’s only response is to ignore her completely as she opens the packet. “White chocolate buttons, are you for real? I bought that super expensive dark chocolate for you”

“I like that too” Regina says, putting one on her tongue

“I can’t. Who even are you? I have to tell someone about this” Emma looks for her phone, lost among creases in bedding and half empty packets.

Regina smiles “No one is ever going to believe you” 

She hums exaggerated appreciation, putting another on her tongue and sucking which does weird things to Emma’s stomach. She's struck silent by the outrageous smugness on Regina’s face.

By the end of the second movie, Henry has gone to do something important like check his facebook. Regina has slipped further and further down the bed, surrounded by pillows so she can still pretend not to be lying down, even though she can only just see the tv.

“How are you feeling?” Emma asks

“Okay”

“Better than before?”

“Yes”

“Still completely awful?”

“Yes. This has been nice, but I need to make dinner for Henry soon”

“Na ah, dinner is already taken care of. I'll go get it ready. Fresh hot water bottle?”

Regina's lips part and her eyes linger on Emma's. It's not quite her argument face, it's softer and uncertain. Emma prepares for it anyway, but Regina says nothing. She relaxes into the pillows a little better as Emma pulls the bottle gently from her. She turns back at the door. Regina is still watching her with the look Emma can’t place. She gives her a small smile and is gone.

There’s a knock at the front door as she's on her way to the kitchen. She gets it, expecting Mary Margaret to be there with an aromatherapy kit or something else that will have Regina vowing to curse them all to another realm in 5 days time.

“Robin. Hi” she says flatly

“Hi Emma” he nods with a smile that leaves his face quickly. 

Things have been pretty awkward since the battle of the dark ones. If pressed to, she would admit that he wasn't entirely useless in the fight. He does have skill with a bow and arrow, and it wasn't like Regina needed him to protect her, but she did need something from him. She needed him to be there. Battered and bleeding, Emma had been the first one to Regina’s side when she had been badly hurt and Robin was nowhere to be seen. Emma doesn't know if they have spoken about it, but she hasn't mentioned it, nor has Henry and no one minds that Robin comes around less than he used to.

“Regina's not feeling super great today” she says

“Everything alright?” He asks, seeming genuinely concerned

“Time of the month stuff”

“Oh” he flushes “say no more” he looks away “that's not something I need to know about”

And Emma's been pretty fucking reasonable with him so far. When Regina says drop it, she drops it. When he chose Marian, she didn't say anything. When he treated Regina like a teenager with a crush in New York, she had her own shit going on with Lily. When she’s told to keep her nose out, she does, but this one she can’t walk away from.

“You don’t need to know about it?” She pulls the door closed behind her.

“Well, you know, it’s not like I’m ever going to have one” He jokes and she is not amused “It’s all, you know, ladies matters”

“So you don’t think you have any kind of responsibility to educate yourself on” she air quotes “ladies matters?” 

“It’s not really relevant, is it?”

“Not relevant? I don’t know how anything could be more relevant, Robin. It’s literally the creation of life and human nature and you don’t think you owe it to the woman who made you, to the mother of your son, to Regina to fucking educate yourself on what that means for us?”

“Well, women take care of that sort of thing in the Enchanted Forest, men don’t really-”

She holds up a hand “I am not here for whatever you think men do, Robin. I don’t care what you did in the forest, you’re not in the forest now, you’re in Storybrooke, Maine. I’m not asking you. I am telling you, if you want to be a decent fucking human being, get past your idea that women and vaginas exist for your pleasure only. You need to step the fuck up, or fuck the fuck off!”

Her chest is heaving. His neck is red. She doesn’t wait for an answer before she heads back into the house. Henry is standing in the hallway, smile wide and incredulous.

“Oh. Hey” she says

“You want me to get that?”

“What?” she looks down at the hot water bottle she’s strangling “Oh yeah, thanks”

She prepares dinner in silence, still stewing over what a jackass Robin is. Henry helps and grins at her periodically. She wonders if she overdid it, but then Robin had left, so maybe she underdid it. Not that she wants him around anyway. Before she realises, pasta with tomato sauce, garlic bread and salad are ready to be served. It’s all pretty simple, but she’s guessing Regina will want comfort food and this ticks all the boxes. The salad is nominal, of course, more of a gesture, but Regina will appreciate the presence of kale on her dinner table.

“I didn’t know you could cook” Regina says, sitting down slowly. She’s still in pyjamas, but with a robe over the top.

“Yeah, I just choose not to most of the time. I can make lots of simple stuff”

“You’re pretty good at roasting beef” Henry says with a grin

“Really?” Regina asks

“No, Henry’s being a smartass” she gives him a pointed look and he laughs

“I’m talking about Robin, mom”

“Oh, that”

“You heard?”

Regina nods and then it goes quiet. Emma stares intently at the single leaf of salad on her plate. Henry’s looking between them like he expected more, like he doesn’t know what just happened.

“Thank you for the food, Emma, but I’m going to have to be extremely ungracious and excuse myself” Regina says, white faced and struggling to push her chair back from the table.

“You ok?” Emma asks, noticing she hasn’t actually touched her food.

Her eyes close and she’s hiding the pain she’s in again. Emma is up and by her side in a second.

“Upstairs?” She asks, taking Regina’s hand. Her eyes open again and they’re laced with a vulnerability that’s close to fear. She doesn’t want Henry to see her like this. They disappear and Regina leans on her when they reappear in her bedroom, swathed in Emma’s magic. “Can I get you anything?”

“No, please go back downstairs” 

She heads that way, reluctantly “Shout if you need anything”

“I will”

“I mean it”

“Emma”

“I’m going”

She closes the door and heads back downstairs. Henry has stopped eating and looks worried. She slides back into her seat and tears a piece of garlic bread in two.

“She’s gonna be ok, kid. People deal with this every day, all over the world.”

“Is it always like this?”

“It’s different for everyone”

“Is it like this for you?”

“It used to be pretty bad, before I had you, then it chilled out a little. The first day is usually the worst”

Henry nods “That sounds like it sucks a lot. I think what you said to Robin was right. What should I be doing?”

Her heart swells with pride. Regina raised a good boy and he’s turning into a good man before both of their eyes.

“Do whatever she needs. She needs tampons, you buy them. She wants Julia Roberts movies, you put them on. She needs a day, or a week in bed, you make sure she knows you’re taken care of and so is she. You always come first for her. She tried to come down here to cook for you, you know? Just pay attention and be good to her, that’s what she needs from you.”

Henry nods “She needs it from you too”

“She’s got it from me”

“You know what I mean”

Emma looks back. He’s fixed her with a no-bullshit stare that is all Regina. She wonders if he has seen something between them or knows something she doesn’t, or if it’s just his believer’s heart wanting his parents to live happily ever after. 

“Yeah I do.” she says anyway. There’s no point lying to him “Oh another thing, for the love of all that is holy, do not call it ‘ladies matters’”

Henry snorts “Or having the painters in?”

“Yeah, it's more like throwing the painters out, and everything the spent they last 3 weeks doing and just fucking trashing the place”

When they are done with dinner, the dishes are washed and the leftovers placed in tupperware. Henry goes to play video games and Emma heads back upstairs. She knocks gently on the door and opens it. It’s dark and Regina’s in bed again.

“Hey. New hot water bottle?” Emma asks, sitting on the bed. “You can have more painkillers now and there's more raspberry leaf tea brewing downstairs. I don’t know if it helps but it can’t hurt, right?”

Regina doesn’t move and Emma leans down a little. The crack in the door casts as strip of light across the bed. Regina’s forehead is shining with a thin layer of sweat, but she’s shivering.

“Shit” Emma says quietly. Regina stirs. It seems to take an inordinate amount of effort for her to sit up.

“Not again” She looks absolutely miserable as she shuffles off the bed and wanders stiffly to the bathroom avoiding Emma’s eyes.

Emma takes the water bottle and empty cups back downstairs, trying to pretend she can’t hear Regina retch in the adjacent room. When she comes back up, the bathroom door is open but Regina’s not in bed. She puts the tea down and peeks around the door. Regina is sitting on the bathroom floor, back against the radiator as she brushes her teeth with her eyes closed.

“Hey” Emma says “fresh tea and painkillers”

She holds out a hand and helps Regina to her feet. She remakes the bed and fluffs the pillows while Regina washes her face.

“I think that’s it” Regina says, leaning against the doorframe. Emma smiles and gestures for her to come back to bed. “Thank you for doing all this” 

She shrugs. Regina sits next to her and starts to apply moisturiser. She looks more like herself than she has all day. Emma checks her watch. It’s been 10 hours and finally a break in the clouds. That’s a rough day by anyone’s standards.

“I mean it” Regina says “I don’t know what I would have done without you”

“Henry would have called sooner or later” 

Regina watches her, there’s something warm but sad in her eyes and Emma can’t figure it out. She doesn’t know why she can’t just accept the compliment. Maybe it’s because looking after her is just the decent thing to do and she doesn’t feel she deserves kudos for it. Maybe it’s because of Robin fucking off like it had nothing to do with him, like it didn’t matter that the woman he was supposed to love was in pain. She doesn’t deserve a special thank you just because she can’t walk away from that.

Her thoughts are interrupted by a distinctive rumbling. Regina’s hands fly to her stomach as if to stifle the noise.

“Was that-” Emma begins

“Absolutely not” Regina dismisses

Emma grins widely. “Ok. You think you could handle some food?”

They eat in the kitchen, Regina sitting on the island with her legs crossed and a hot water bottle balanced in her lap. Emma picks at garlic bread and tries her best not to notice that now she’s up and functioning again, some of Regina’s pyjama buttons have come undone. Not that Emma would know, but her boobs look way bigger than usual. She tries, she really really does but her eyes act of their own accord and she can’t always be held responsible for them.

“Miss Swan, this is not the time” Regina says when she catches her looking

“I...uh...I know...I just” she clears her throat “there’s cabbage in the fridge if you think that would help”

And she wants to punch herself in the face. Regina is either going to roast her for daring to suggest the indignity of the old cabbage-in-the-bra trick, or for obviously staring at her boobs. She closes her eyes and waits for death.

It never comes. When she opens her eyes Regina is doing that not-smile which isn’t in her lips but is in her eyes. Emma only has a moment to be grateful that she’s still alive before Regina hops down from the counter. She looks away a second too late and she’s going to have to work very hard not to think about that _bounce_.

“I should probably get going…” she says, looking at the glass cabinet in which she has suddenly become engrossed, when she feels something soft on her cheek. She freezes when she realises it’s lips.

“Thank you for today” Regina says and disappears upstairs again.

It isn’t until Emma’s walking out to her car in a daze that she thinks to ask herself “Does that mean there is a time?”

She looks up at the window that she knows is Regina’s. The light is on, but it’s way too late to do anything. There’s no way she can casually wander back in and ask for clarification on whether there is an appropriate time and place to stare at Regina’s boobs.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all your lovely comments and kudos! I hope you like the update =) <3

It’s Sunday and by some tragedy of shift scheduling, Emma has to work. She’s not entirely sure why the police department is so well employed at the moment, but she figures people need jobs and she can give them. She stops by the mansion and uses Henry’s keys to get in. She didn’t even know she had those. Regina is sitting at the breakfast bar, tea in hand and a hot water bottle on her lap, watching Henry make breakfast.

“Woah, Gordon Ramsay” Emma exclaims as she enters the kitchen.

“Hey Emma” he grins over his shoulder, not letting his attention be distracted from the eggs for more than a second. The cloth draped over his shoulder is adorable.

“Good morning” Regina smiles. It must be the remnants of one given to Henry because it’s so full of warmth Emma physically feels her mood lift from it. Something feels new and like home at the same time, that’s their boy, always surprising her and always home. She smiles back, echoes the greeting and pecks her on the cheek.

“Do I get some eggs?” she asks, leaning on the stool next to Regina’s. 

She’s looking at Henry but can see Regina watching her from the corner of her eye. She only realises what just happened when the kiss replays in her sluggish, pre-coffee mind, and the brief warmth of Regina’s skin leaves her lips. She concentrates even harder on Henry’s back and hopes the ground will open up and swallow her whole. 

The ground stays where it is, Regina’s eyes stay on her and she prays for something to crash into the kitchen. A dragon, a chernabog, a hoard of angry dwarves, anything to make them all forget what happened. 

Regina turns to look at the clock on the wall “You’re already late”

“It’s not even 9 yet” Emma protests, momentarily distracted from her embarrassment by being accused of the impossible.

“If you leave now you’ll still be 5 minutes late” 

“So I might as well make it 10” 

“Sheriff” Regina warns

“Fine, _Madam Mayor_ ” she emphasises. “I’m glad you’re feeling well enough to be a total killjoy. See you, Gordon”

“Get out of my kitchen!” Henry shouts in the worst attempt at a British accent she’s ever heard. She’s still smiling about it as she hops down the steps of the mansion and along the path. She almost walks straight into a bunch of flowers that are being accompanied by Robin. 

“Woah, hey there” she says in a much friendlier tone than she intends.

“Sheriff. I’m glad I caught you, I wanted to apologise for yesterday. You were right, I need to be better to Regina”

“Fuck you, buddy!” Is what she wants to say, but instead she purses her lips and nods. She’s in the patrol car a few moments later and watches Henry answer the door with a smile that quickly turns insincere.

“Fuck you, buddy” she says quietly, starting up the engine.

-

She’s hardly been at work for an hour and she definitely hasn’t started working yet when Henry calls.

“Oh my gooooood” he complains down the phone

“Henry, I don’t think you’re supposed to be listening in on their conversation”

“He’s saying he’ll be all of these thing for her but he’s just gonna let her down again! He promises stuff but as soon as it's not convenient it means nothing, and he’s like ‘oh yeah my code’ like he never has a choice in how he fails her! Like flowers can fix what a let down he is? You have to do something!”

She sighs “Kid, it’s not that I don’t think you have a point, but...your mom has to decide what she wants, you can’t do it for her”

“Ugh, you two are the worst! She wants you, we’re a family! And you want her too. You suck so much”

“Come on”

“You’re not even denying it!”

“We’re friends!”

“Yeah. Like Ruby and Mulan are _friends_ ”

Emma chokes on the cold coffee she’s drinking “Kid” she rasps, legs coming down from where they had been resting on the corner of the desk “Your mom wouldn’t be with Robin if she didn’t want to be. He’s her happy ending, remember?”

“Whatever. You both suck.” He hangs up

She blows out a long breath, throws her phone on the desk and leans back in her chair. What the hell is she supposed to do about Robin being there? She has a brief daydream about throwing him out and Regina being grateful and for some reason she has a sword. She doesn't have a chance to rationalise that in her imaginary scenario. 

“Henry on at you?” David asks

She just about jumps out of her skin when she sees him at her office door. “Dad, what are you doing here? It's Sunday”

“Your mother asked me to drop this round for you” he puts a tupperware on the desk. Leftovers for lunch, boom. “That sounded like an intense conversation” He smiles that soft dad-smile that she will never quite get used to receiving and she feels like she has time, like he has all the time in the world for her.

“Yeah, he thinks I should go round to Regina’s house and throw Robin out”

“On what grounds?” David laughs

“I mean, to be fair” she starts to tell him about what happened the day before. Ten minutes later she’s still listing his inadequacies and every time she thinks he let Regina down. David is leaning on the desk with his arms crossed, nodding as he listens.

“...so on those grounds, I guess, I dunno”

“It sounds like you do know”

She sighs. “How can I possibly say any of this to Regina?”

“Regina knows” David says

Her heart jolts in her chest “Knows what?”

“That you love her, honey. Maybe she doesn’t know how much, but are you going to tell me that she doesn’t know that you care about her? Forget everything else you’ve been through, you came through for her big time yesterday. Do you think she’s stupid?”

It’s Emma’s turn to cross her arms “No”

“Do you think she’s careless or unobservant?”

She rolls her eyes “No”

“Do you think that she would choose anyone over you?”

“Dad, it’s not like that. We’re friends” she says as a lump forms in her throat

“Ok you’re friends. You walked into the grasp of the world’s ancient evil to save her from it and she almost died saving you right back. It’s not _like that now,_ but maybe it could be. How will you ever know if you don’t try?”

Her chin dimples as she holds in tears she doesn't really understand. She wonders what the hell she’s on the verge of admitting and when the hell it happened. David pulls her out of her chair and into a hug. He smells like aftershave and home. She feels small in his arms and grounded enough to let quiet tears go. They soak into his shirt like they were never there. Maybe she will go talk to Regina.

-

She still has Henry’s keys, she thought she’d left them behind. She uses them anyway to let herself into Regina’s house when her shift is over. She strains to hear as she opens the door, hoping she’s not going to walk in on a Robgina make-out session. She grimaces at the thought.

“This part is completely racist and unnecessary, but it’s important to be able to critique the things you love” she hears Regina tell someone.

Entering the living room she sees Henry in the armchair and no Regina. He’s watching Breakfast At Tiffany’s. Audrey Hepburn manages to get back into her apartment and sigh dramatically. She hears Regina’s quiet laugh close by and leans over the sofa back.

“Hey” she looks down. 

Regina is lying across the settee, not unlike a cat in a patch of sun, in pyjamas. They’re different pyjamas from yesterday. They're silk and look like they’ve been fucking tailored, but still she considers this to be a huge personal achievement for both of them. Regina looks up.

“What about Breakfast At Tiffany’s?” she asks, referring to their movie conversation from the day before.

“Well, that’s one thing we’ve got” Emma grins. No one gets it “Nevermind. Tea?”

“I’m making some, there’s coffee in the pot too if you want it?” Henry asks

“Yeah coffee would be awesome, thanks Henry”

He hops off to get it and Regina pulls her feet up to make space for her on the sofa. That means something, right? It means she wants Emma to sit there? She does and Regina puts her feet back down on her legs. Emma looks back at her for a lead on what to do. She’s still watching the screen and gives her nothing.

“I love Audrey Hepburn. She’s so graceful” Regina says, completely absorbed 

“Yeah” Emma says, thinking half about Regina’s Holly Golightly dress and half about her feet which she has never seen before. She’s never had a thing for feet, but like her autopilot kiss from that morning, her hands want to reach for and rub them. She manages to control herself and rests them on her ankles instead, which is better. Right? She has no fucking idea what she’s doing. Where the hell is Henry with that tea?

“How are you feeling now?” she asks

“Much better than yesterday, thank you. Today it’s mostly just pain, but I’m well stocked for medication” She smiles at her briefly and Emma remembers panic buying enough pain relief to last Regina until her periods come to their natural end. Henry appears with coffee and tea.

“New hot water bottle, mom?”

“Yes please, sweetheart”

Emma’s proud of Henry for stepping up, and of Regina for accepting help at all, but especially from him. Henry winks at her on the way out. She’s not really sure what it means but she smiles at him anyway. Regina presses on her back.

“Sore?”

“Just stiff” Regina says

“Is it here?” Emma rubs her lower back.

“You don’t have t- ugh, yes” Regina closes her eyes and let's Emma rub out the knots she knows from her own experience are there. 

She's trying very hard not to think about how easy it is to move Regina (now that she’s not thinking about it, she is kind of small) and how she leans into her touch. She's not entirely sure she wants Henry to come back now. She’s not looking at her ass in silk pyjamas. She’s not looking at the brown skin that’s exposed from her top riding up. She’s not watching Regina frown and hum at the same time. She stops as she hears the door open. 

“Thank you” Regina says, taking the hot water bottle from Henry. Emma’s not sure who its to. 

“There’s a webcast on in 5 minutes that I want to watch, you mind if I go?” Henry asks

“No, just ditch us for something better, we don’t care” Emma says with a mock sniffle.

“Of course you can go” Regina says, nudging Emma in the ribs with her toes “the next movie is your choice”

“Cool” He smiles at them both.

“Please don't make it Captain America” Emma sighs

“You love Peggy Carter!”

“I do, I just can't handle any more beefy superhero dudes”

“Moms” Henry rests his hand on Emma’s shoulder and looks between them both “you're my favourite heroes, but there's not a movie about you”

“Good answer” Emma smiles as he leaves them alone. Sneaky kid. She leans across the sofa back, resting her elbow in the cushions.

“I used to hate this bit” She says as Holly leaps from the taxi to look for a cat in the rain.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I never really warmed to the guy and I feel bad about the cat.”

“I quite like it.”

“You big romantic, Regina” Emma says and is ignored.

The credits roll and there's super awkward 1960s kissing in the rain.

Regina turns from her side, onto her back. Emma lifts her hands so her legs can move and realises she’s been thumbing circles over her ankle. Her hands settle back on her feet. No circles this time. Her eyes narrow as she fights to keep them on Regina’s face and not drag them down her body.

“Did you come round for something?” Regina asks

“Um” she looks down and sees her fingers trailing the tops of Regina’s feet, all the way to red polish toes. God damn it.

“Henry said you were coming, but he didn’t say why” Regina says absently. That sneaky little bastard.

“You know last night? You said it wasn’t the time.” Emma decides her mouth needs all the help it can get and stops trying to control her fingers, which start to tug at the hems of Regina’s pyjama legs “Does that mean there is a time?”

Regina takes a second to sit up, legs still across Emma’s lap.

“A time for what exactly?” Her tone sounds neutral, not threatening like Emma half expects. 

“I mean, we’re friends, right?”

“Yes” Regina replies without hesitation.

Emma’s heart clunks in her chest as she remembers Regina admitting to not wanting her dead. They’ve come so far. It hurts a little bit. She stops playing with the hem and closes her eyes “I feel like we might be more than that”

Regina doesn’t speak for a moment. Emma looks over, just to make sure she is definitely still there and heard her. The look she gets back is slightly intimidating. Regina is watching her with caution and takes her legs back, crossing them in front of her. _Is that defensive?_ Emma asks herself, _Does she need that core stability to summon fireballs?_

“Do you want to be more than that?”

Regina’s not exactly frowning, she’s just looking at her very hard. Emma looks down at her fiddling hands again, now pulling a loose thread out of her sleeve that she should cut off before she unravels the whole thing. All of her words seem to have disappeared. She knows one word, ‘yes’, and this would be a great time to use it but she can’t seem to get it out of her mouth. Seconds pass and she starts to panic.

“I want to cook for you again” True as it is, it’s not at all what she meant to say.

“O-okay” Regina stammers, tripping over words like ‘you thought we were friends?’

“This week?” Emma asks, still not looking

“You’re working late shifts until Friday”

“Oh yeah. Friday then?”

“Okay”

“Great” Emma gets up with too much energy and shoves her hands into her jacket pockets. A packet crinkles and she pulls it out. “Oh yeah. In case of emergencies”

She holds out a packet of white chocolate buttons and Regina takes them slowly, glancing between Emma and the bag like she’s worried one of them might explode.

“See you Friday then” she says and practically runs from the room. She hears a noise behind her that sounds a lot like Regina falling back into the sofa cushions.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the comments and kudos, omg you are lovely! This one is a little longer than the others, one more chapter after this, I hope you like it!

She’s a mess. She’s going to be cooking dinner for Regina who’s still with Robin and who hasn’t been in touch once to chase her for paperwork, and that's weird because she hasn’t done a single piece of it for days. To fill her time instead she’s been driving herself mad with visions of awkward silent dinners and overcooked steak. She’s not cooking steak.

The main event of her Monday, because it's embarrassing as hell, not because she enjoyed it, is seeing Robin in the grocery store on her way home. She doesn't know why she can't be anywhere near him. Maybe it’s because she’s ~~in love with~~ got a crush on Regina. Maybe it's because she has something that could be considered a date with Regina. Maybe it's because, if Robin isn't a complete fucking pinecone - which she thinks he is - he will know both of these things. She kind of feels sorry for him at the same time as hating him which is a difficult combination to grapple with, so instead of working on that mess of feelings, she just doesn't think about Robin.

Even so, nothing, not even the fact that she forgets he exists sometimes can excuse the ridiculous reaction she has to seeing him standing in the aisle she turns into.

Her arms react before her brain, throwing a box of cereal into the air. She scrambles so dramatically to catch it that by the time she has it safely back in her hands, Robin along with everyone else in the shop is silent. And watching her.

“Susan?” She says to no one in the next aisle and disappears around the corner. She ditches the cereal in a basket of fresh bread and makes a run for it. So she has no control of her body, no dignity and no cereal. Fucking Robin.

Tuesday arrives and there is still not even a phone message to chase her up about paperwork. It’s usually a daily occurrence. Regina’s tactic is to hassle her into doing paperwork that would never be done otherwise just to get her off her back.

How can someone who has literally been to Hell and back, and conquered the world’s ancient evil be so deeply concerned by bureaucracy? Regina will never admit that she loves Storybrooke. She will never admit that she loves being in charge of it. But she will read and make corrections to the driest minutes that Emma pretends to have read at council meetings, which seems as good as an admission.

She wonders how long it will keep up before there’s a committee formed to improve the sheriff department and if she’ll be allowed a spot on it.

By Wednesday Henry is on her case. He doesn't even say hello when she answers her phone.

“You haven't spoken to my mom in three days” he accuses

“There is such a thing as personal email” she deflects

“You haven’t emailed her” she can practically hear his eyeroll over the phone

“How do you know?”

“She hasn’t mentioned you once in three days”

“So?” Emma’s heart sinks that her lack of communication has gone unmarked, maybe even unnoticed by Regina.

“Uh so, she usually asks about you”

“She does? What does she ask?”

“If I’ve seen you that day, how you are, if I think you’d like to do something with us at the weekend”

“What weekend? I’m seeing her on Friday”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, I'm gonna cook again”

Henry is quiet for a moment before asking “is it a date?”

“What? No, no no no. Nope. Probably not. Anyway you'll be there, it's just family dinner”

“Oh my god! You two are the worst!”

“I don’t understand” Emma says, no idea why she is the worst. She wants to get back to the other thing “why has she stopped asking about me?”

But she knows why, she crossed a huge line and now she can’t take them back over it. She might have ruined this whole thing, their hard-earned friendship and how good things are with Henry.

“I don’t know, what did you do the other night? You didn’t even stay for dinner, which was pasta again by the way, how much food did you make?”

“Like, a lot, it’s a group home thing”

“Oh”

“So, um, is Regina mad at me?”

“Emma! Talk to her, oh my god!”

“I don’t know what that means, kid. Why isn’t she asking about me?”

“Literally ask her yourself. Why am I even involved in this?”

“Literally no one asked you to be”

“I can’t believe you got this far in life with your lack of social skills”

“Likewise, dweeb”

“Bye Felicia”

“What the-”

He hangs up. She’s gonna have to talk to him about that. He’s too young to know where that came from and definitely too white to be using it.

Regina usually answers her phone with her name. It always makes Emma smile because like, she knows who she called. She also knows the sheriff office number comes up on Regina’s caller ID and she just pretends to be too busy to look at who it is before answering.

“Emma” Mulan says, heaving an archive box onto a desk “you've been doing that for 8 minutes”

“Doing what?”

Mulan pulls a face of exaggerated confusion and puts her hand to her ear as if it's a phone. “Ah, um” she puts it down and picks it up again “oh, I dunno, what am I doing? Hmm” She puts it down and scratches her neck.

“Ok! Point taken, God” she puts the receiver down and her cheeks warm. “What are you doing?”

“Auditing the evidence lockup, there's so much. Why is this in there?” She pulls out a plastic bag containing a half eaten apple turnover.

“Be careful with that”

Mulan looks back as if Emma has either lost her mind or forgotten that she is a literal warrior “be careful with some mouldy pastry?”

“It's magic pastry, bad magic”

Mulan stares for a moment and must decide against further enquiry as she shakes her head and moves on “can we get rid of it?”

“Well, how?”

“Forgive me if I’m wrong, I am from another realm after all, but here you have portals known as garbage cans, correct?”

Ignoring what a smartass she’s being, Emma shrugs “What if someone gets their hands on it?” She sits forward in her chair, lowering her voice dramatically “The wrong someone”

“This is going to turn into soup in a bag in the evidence archive”

“Yeah” Emma sits back, this argument is won “magic soup, that no one should go near”

Mulan drops the bag back into the box and slopes away back to evidence “this is why this place is full of junk” she says wearily to herself.

It takes another 2 minutes of picking up and putting down the receiver before Emma makes it to a dial tone that she can’t take back.

“Hello?”

She glances at the phone to make sure she pressed Regina’s speed dial. She did. “Hey it’s Emma” she says with uncertainty

“Oh” Regina answers “Hi”

“Hi” Emma’s head is on her desk while the receiver is pressed to her ear. She holds it so tightly it creaks a little. “How are you?”

“I’m fine, is everything ok?”

In a town where disasters happen on a weekly basis, she shouldn’t be surprised by her response, but it does make her a little sad. She wishes they could have normal lives where everyone’s first reaction isn’t crisis mode.

“Yeah everything’s fine” the line is quiet. She thinks she should have thought of something to say before calling “Um, don’t you want the report from the infrastructure audit last week?”

“Yes, do you have it?”

“No” She lifts her head by millimetres and lets it drop back to the surface of her desk “you just haven’t asked”

“Oh...can you send it when you do have it?”

“Yeah I will”

She hears Regina draw a breath and hopes it will be followed by something they can have a normal conversation about before she dies there and then from her own awkwardness.

“Sorry Emma, I was distracted. Henry just text asking to stay at Lilo’s house on Friday night.”

“Lilo?”

“Nani’s little sister, Henry knows her from swimming”

“Oh, yeah I know Nani”

“Do you want him to be there?”

“Nani’s house?”

“On Friday night”

“Oh! Um no, it’s ok if he wants to make plans. I cook for him sometimes, he pretty much knows my repertoire so he won’t be missing out”

“If you’re sure”

“Yeah, it’s fine”

“Okay...are you sure you’re ok?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You just seem…” _Quiet? Distracted? Painfully uncomfortable?_ “nevermind. Are you coming to the council meeting tomorrow?”

“Actually Mulan wanted to go to talk about licensing or something”

“Oh.” There’s another pause and Emma wonders if she forgot something important she was supposed to be doing (actually important, not paperwork important) “I was hoping to talk to you but I suppose it can wait”

“I can come by? It’s not like it’s far to walk”

“Ok, let me just see when I’m free” Emma scratches the embossed Storybrooke Police Department off one of her pencils while she waits “I really don’t have much free time at all this week” She picks the gold from underneath her nails. She’s actually just made a lot of mess and regrets messing with the pencil at all. Regina sighs and her attention goes fully back to her “I’m free now, for the next hour or so. Is this a suitable time?”

“Yeah” it's not like the place is overrun with crime these days “do you want coffee? I could go via Granny’s?”

“Why don’t we meet at Granny’s? I haven’t eaten yet”

“Regina it’s after 3! You need to have lunch!”

“That’s my point”

“Ok, meet you there in like 10 minutes?”

“Yes, see you there”

Emma puts the phone down and smiles. She throws her jacket on and her phone rings from her back pocket.

“There’s no way I’m already late” she answers, leaving the station.

“Late for what?”

She looks at the screen again. Oops, David. “Oh hey Dad, what’s up?”

“Your mother wants to know what you want for dinner on Friday”

“I’m not gonna be there”

“I thought you were only on lates until tomorrow?”

“I am, I’m making dinner for Regina”

“You are?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of what happened when I went over the other day”

“Uhuh” David says down the line, giving her space to continue or to change the subject

“Yeah. I don’t know. It’s not a date. I mean. I don’t know, is it? She cooks dinner for me and Henry all the time.”

“Is Henry going to be there? Even if he is, it’s still a special thing to do for them”

“No he’s staying at Lilo Pelekai’s”

“Oh, she’s a nice kid.”

“Yeah. So.” She loiters across the road from the diner. She’s early anyway and wants to stay on the phone.

“Well that sounds really nice. Can I ask if you talked about any of the things you told me?”

“Not really. I said I thought we were more than friends”

She hears him smile as he speaks “What did Regina say?”

“She asked if I wanted to be”

“Wow” David is still smiling

“And then I said I wanted to cook for her and then I ran away”

There’s a pause “You ran away?”

“Yeah, I just was full of energy. I kind of just...woosh”

Regina appears on the other side of the street, walking towards Granny’s. Emma’s watching her strut, hands in the pockets of her tan trench, tie around the waist whipping in the wind. The wind whips her hair too, but she shakes it away from her face with ease.

“Emma?”

“Yeah”

“So what are you doing now? What are you not late for?”

“I’m meeting her for coffee. She said she wanted to talk about something. I don’t know what. Maybe I should have asked. Oh my god, what if she wants to cancel Friday because it’s too like a date?”

“Honey” She turns her back to the diner in case Regina looks out of the window and sees her freaking out across the street “Dad, what if that’s what it is? Henry said she hasn’t asked about me all week. Did I mess everything up?”

“By asking the question?”

“Yes” She covers her eyes, unable to look at her reflection in the shop window she faces.

“Even if it is about Friday, it’s probably a conversation you need to have. She probably just wants to know where she stands, right? Honey she cares about you, she’s not going to disown you because you asked the question.”

“Ugh I feel sick, why did I agree to this?”

“Emma”

“No, you’re probably right. I’ve gotta go, she’ll be waiting” _Waiting to shoot me down, why did she even agree to this?_ She thinks, but doesn’t say.

When she gets to the diner Regina is in a booth with two steaming mugs.

“Hey” Emma says nervously. Her hands are in her pockets. She should sit down but her legs feel stiff and full of energy again.

“Hey” Regina glances up at her “I got you cocoa”

And just like that she melts again. It’s just Regina. The feeling that centres and stills her when she’s around her settles over Emma again. She’s fine.

“Thanks” she says sitting down

“I’m just finishing an email” Regina says, typing with her thumbs “I didn’t order food yet in case you wanted something”

Ruby appears at their table seconds later “Hey, what can I get you?”

“Caeser salad, please” Regina says

“Woah, not kale? What’s going on?” Emma asks

“Variety is the spice of life, Miss Swan, and I like to keep you on your toes.” she says without looking up from her phone.

“Pie please, Ruby”

“Coming right up” she smiles

“So, you wanted to talk to me?” Emma asks sipping her cocoa. It’s hot and the contrast with the cold vanilla and cinnamon whipped cream makes her toes curl in delight.

“Yes” Regina puts her phone in her bag and turns back to Emma “I wanted to thank you for helping me at the weekend”

“Oh.” She relaxes a little at the anticlimax “Yeah, don’t worry about it”

“Henry has been very sweet the last couple of days and I know it’s because you spoke to him” Regina says, her voice is low but it’s soft

“He asked what he should be doing, so I told him”

“Well whatever you told him, I appreciate it” Regina’s eyes trace up from her hands to her face.

“You’re welcome” Emma says, feeling her cheeks turn a little pink. Does Regina always look at her so softly? Are her eyes always that open?

“So this” she waves her hand at the cocoa “is on me”

“Seriously? I should have got that triple banana split”

Regina’s eyebrow quirks like that’s all she’d expect. Emma feels the grin stretch across her face as their food arrives.

“There is something else” Regina says without looking up from her salad “Friday”

Emma almost drops her fork but manages to make it look like she just put it down hard on her plate, like that’s any better. She catches the cautious look in Regina’s eyes.

“You left quite quickly on Sunday and I wanted to confirm some details with you”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea”

“So, time?”

“Uh, when do you usually eat dinner?”

“That depends. Henry won’t be there so it can be any time”

Emma thinks about Friday quickly. If she finishes her shift at 3 she’ll need to go home, get food ready, shower and she should probably speak to her parents in person at least once this week.

“Seven? Eight?” she offers

“Seven thirty?”

“Yeah, fine”

“Great, and what should I wear?”

Emma chokes on her cocoa. “What?” She croaks, feeling a sensation that she’s pretty sure is whipped cream in her lungs.

“Well, I just want to make sure it’s appropriate for the evening.” Regina straightens the napkin on her knee.

If Emma didn’t know better, this might be Regina’s way of asking if it’s a date. If she didn’t know better. Which she does.

“Uh, whatever you want. I mean, your house is ridiculous so it’s never weird when you’re in heels cause it kind of suits the environment”

“So heels?”

“Sure” Emma says

“Ok, good.”

“Do you have any food allergies or things you don’t like?” Emma asks, suddenly realising she should know that by now. She can tell a lie from truth at 50 paces but she doesn’t know if a prawn might kill her.

“No allergies that I know of other than sorrel, but no one cooks with that here”

“What the hell is sorrel?” Regina pins her with a look that says _precisely, Miss Swan_. “Ok, things you don’t like?”

“Salted caramel, green olives, and I think I’ve had enough raspberry leaf tea to last me a lifetime”

“Or for a month at least”

Regina rolls her eyes but there’s a smile in there too.

“What about spicy food?”

“Are you joking, Vanilla Ice?”

Before she can defend herself with her love of Cholula and Sriracha, Ruby arrives at their table.

“Can I get you two anything else?”

She looks at Regina who shakes her head.

“No thanks, Ruby” Emma smiles and she walks away “oh actually, I want some water”

“Emma” Ruby grins and taps her on the arm when she meets her on the other side of the bar.

Emma’s brow furrows “Yeah?”

“Are you guys here on a date?”

“What?!” Emma asks a little too loudly “No, does it look like a date?”

“Well, yeah, traditionally two people eating together and looking nervous is a date”

“Do I look nervous?” She asks “wait, does she look nervous?”

“Oh man, forget I said anything. You two are ridiculous. Did you come over because you remembered you wanted something after you finished staring into those deep, dark eyes?”

“What?!” Emma doesn’t even know where to start, so she doesn’t. “Can I have some water and can you stop being so obnoxious?”

Ruby snorts “Can you?”

It isn’t until much later (when she’s not thinking about Regina’s food for any particular reason) she wonders about the odd combination of coffee and salad. It’s the kind of order she might make in a panic. She can’t help the small smile that creeps onto her face at the thought of Regina being nervous to meet her. She doesn’t believe that she was, but she enjoys the thought anyway.

-

Emma wakes on Thursday morning to the brain splitting noise of her phone vibrating against the metal bedframe. It turns out not to be the end of the world, just a text from Henry. Her heart rate slows to normal as she opens it.

**Thank god**

The brightness of her screen is down to its lowest but she still feels like she's looking into the sun.

_What now?_ She manages to reply

** She’s back to normal. Whatever you did worked. **

_ I didn’t do anything!? _

** Whatever! **

_ Omg what is wrong with everyone? _

** Who?! **

_ Have you started a new operation that I don’t know about? _

** idek what you’re talking about **

_Is Ruby in on it? IS DAVID?_

**What?! I’m gonna talk to them**

_ NO _

** What should we call it? Operation Mom and Swan **

_ Veto _

**Operation Legal Regal**

_ LOL better but still veto _

**I’ll ask David and Ruby for ideas**

_ Henry. Fruit of my womb. Child of my loins. Please stop. _

** Don’t be gross and no **

_ Don’t be a little shit :) _

** I’m telling mom you called me a shit :) **

_U fkn R1 :)_

** ily ;) **

-

Thursday morning is quiet. She has the loft to herself for most of it. She’s trying to decide what to cook when her phone rings.

“Sheriff Swan” Mulan is always so formal first thing in the morning. She wonders if it’s a tactic to make her respond more seriously.

“Officer Fa” she answers very seriously

“I know the council meeting occurs during your shift today, but I would like to attend to discuss the licensing issues I raised with you last week”

“Yeah I remember. I’ll sign off the overtime for that hour if you leave the sheet on my desk”

“Thank you, but I was actually thinking I could stay at work, there doesn’t seem much point in going home for the couple of hours when there’s so much to do”

“Seriously?”

Mulan is very good at finding things that need to be done, she suspects that’s why Regina was so quick to approve the funding for another officer despite the distinct lack of crime in the town.

“I can go home if it’s a problem. Or, you could just pay me for the single overtime hour since I’d sort of volunteering to-”

“No, don’t worry about the overtime, you’ll be paid for the hours you work, Mulan”

“Ok. Thanks. What time will we be leaving for the meeting? I assume you’ll want to stop by Granny’s on the way?”

“Oh I wasn’t gonna go to the meeting, ‘cause you’re going”

“Oh really?”

“Yeah, why?”

“Just something Ruby mentioned. Nevermind”

“That’s interesting. Was it about Regina by any chance?” she doesn’t answer “Mulan” Still nothing “Deputy Fa, I will fire you if you don’t answer me”

“It’s not my intention to blackmail you, Sheriff, but I imagine that wouldn’t go down well with certain diner owners who supply the majority of your food”

“Uhuh” Emma says “see you at the station”

-

Friday starts early. She gets up in the full swing of Charming morning mayhem. Snow is getting the baby ready for the playgroup which is her turn to run this week. David is helping, for a value of ‘help’ but mostly he just tells her where things are when she frantically asks herself.

When she is gone he turns back to Emma, dressed and ready for his day of peace and quiet. He pours her coffee as she sidles round the counter.

“Mom seems a little...overstimulated”

David laughs easily “you know your mother, she just wants everything to be perfect”

“And she wants her playgroup to be better than Kathryn’s” She sips her coffee and watches David.

There’s no bad blood between them and Kathryn and Frederick, but Emma understands Snow wanting to avoid certain scenarios. Interactions with Kathryn being one, Kathryn’s playgroup being more popular than hers being another.

David lifts his eyebrows and a smile dimples one of his cheeks “you know your mother” he says again, swigging his coffee.

“So, I’m making pizza tonight”

David swallows his coffee in what looks like a painfully big gulp “really?”

“Yeah, like, home made with good ingredients” she says as her confidence wanes a little “You think it’s a bad idea?”

“Well, what are your options?”

“Risotto-”

“Oh you should ask Snow about this one she does with sorrel and-”

“Veto, Regina’s allergic” she says, making a mental note to google what sorrel actually is.

“Huh ok, what else?”

“Pasta, but I did pasta last time”

“You made lasagne that time”

“She makes literally the best lasagne in the world”

“Ok, you make good enchiladas”

“No”

“The spicy pepper thing?”

“I can’t serve her anything that’s name ends in ‘thing’. Can’t you just picture it?” She lowers her voice “‘Miss Swan, what am I taking my life in my hands by sampling this evening?’” Her voice lifts to a caricature of her own “‘That’s way harsh, and it’s called Halloumi Thing’-”

“Halloumi Thing is good!”

“She’ll have shawarma and fattoush on order from Al’s before I’ve finished speaking”

“Ok. So pizza?”

“Yeah” she sighs, with a lot less confidence in her choice than before.

-

On Friday afternoon Emma stands at the diner counter, playing on her phone. Her shift had felt like it lasted forever. She's an odd combination of relieved and anxious. She had been pleased when Snow offered to get milkshakes on her way home because they hadn’t seen each other all week despite living in the same apartment. It also put something in between now and her maybe-date with Regina, which she’s trying not to think about.

“Good afternoon”

She turns round to see the woman herself sliding in between the bar stools at her side.

“Hey, you’re off work early” she says. Regina’s look slides off to one side “it wasn’t a criticism” Emma adds quickly “I was just saying”

“I’m meeting Henry” Regina checks her watch “I’m a little early”

“I’m meeting Snow and she’s late” Emma replies, growing ever suspicious of her family. Not Regina though, she seems genuinely surprised to see her.

“Mulan was very enthusiastic at the council meeting”

“Oh yeah I heard, tell your secretary not to bother sending me the minutes, I already know literally everything that happened”

The corner of Regina’s mouth curls slightly and Emma continues “including the part where you made a joke about audit trails which was” she put on her Mulan voice “‘ _very amusing_ ’. Really? Jokes in meetings? What next, live music?”

“It wasn’t a joke, it was a comment” Regina says, the curl of her lips turning into a smile as she speaks.

“Apparently it was a _‘very amusing’_ comment. I can’t believe you save this stuff for when I’m not around. You’re definitely not funny with me”

“You’re definitely not funny, period”

Emma grins at the word. Regina’s eyebrows draw together momentarily before she realises what she’s said.

“Oh god” she rolls her eyes. Emma laughs.

“So are we gonna talk about that thing?”

Regina swallows “what thing?”

“You know” Emma rolls her eyes meaningfully. Regina’s eyes are wide and she isn’t really moving. “That hilarious email I sent which you never replied to”

Regina watches her for a second longer before her eyebrows drop to two severe lines “31 period tweets that will make you laugh then cry?”

“Yes!”

“I didn’t feel your email required a response”

“The subject was The Communists Are Coming and you didn’t think it required a response?”

“Hey moms” Henry appears between them at the bar

“Hello sweetheart” Regina gives him a one armed hug “would you order for us?” She gives Emma a quelling look before heading towards the bathroom.

“So. What did you do to get your mom to leave work early?”

“I asked her to leave work early”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah” Henry replies like there’s something wrong with her “I just said it would be nice to see her cause I’ll be out of the house tonight”

“Oh yeah, with Liiiiiiilo” Emma nudges him in the ribs

“Yeah, Lilo”

“Is she your girlfriend?”

“She’s a friend. Stop trying to embarrass me because you’ve got a date with mom”

Her heart stops in her chest but she manages to look unfazed, or so she thinks “who’s calling it a date?”

He smiles and shakes his head “well have a good time, don’t stay out too late and look both ways when you cross the street”

“Smartass”

By the time Regina is back their drinks are ready. “Henry did you order a triple chocolate milkshake?”

“Yeah” he slurps and Emma has no idea how it's even getting up the straw. It's basically a brownie in a cup.

“We talked about ruining your dinner with these. I ought to ground you”

“Yeah?” he raises an eyebrow as he smiles, cockily. Regina pauses and shakes her head. “Empty threats”

“They aren't threats, they're consequences. How about no Xbox for a week?”

His eyes narrow “no way”

“Yes way, behave yourself” she moves to take the cake in a cup that Henry is determined to keep hold of. He's so tall now, he might be able to lift it out of her reach.

“You don't scare me, mom. I've never been scared of you” he laughs and her face grows more determined. Her fingers are millimetres from the cup. “Apart from that time you held a knife to my throat in the Enchanted Forest”

Regina shrinks back immediately.

“Henry Daniel Mills!” Is out of Emma's mouth before she can stop it.

His eyes widen and he looks back at Regina turned to Emma with a matching stare.

She doesn't know what to follow that up with. She can't believe he said it. It was a joke but shit, the only time Regina has ever acted without Henry in mind because she didn't know who the fuck he was (and despite that, later almost died protecting him) and it's used against her to what, get a fucking smoothie?

“You wanna think about what you just said?”

“Sorry mom” he says looking at Regina who turns back to him after a second “it was a joke but it was mean”

“Thank you for apologising”

He puts the shake down, picks up Regina's coffee and hands it to her. “Home?”

“Yes”

“Hey” Emma says before he turns. He looks up and his cheeks are pink. She opens her arms and he gives her a wonky smile before falling into them. “Don't be a buttface”

“You're a buttface” he says into her shoulder. Regina rolls her eyes but she's smiling.

“Your mom” Emma says, grinning at Regina. Her head tilts to one side with a raised eyebrow that says _Really, Miss Swan?_ Henry pulls away and laughs at them both.

“Have fun with Lilo, see you later” Emma waves.

Regina touches her arm lightly and her eyes seem to linger on her for a moment longer than usual. Snow passes them on her way in. She beams as she reaches Emma.

“That was a long five minutes to clean up after playgroup”

“Well there was a lot to clean up” she says airily

“Uhuh?” Emma sips her banana milkshake, eyeing her suspiciously

“Lego and things” she says, smile still on her face

“Lego’s not really an appropriate toy for their age range, is it?” Emma asks

“Ahm...”

“You’re in a lot of trouble” Emma says, slurping again with narrowed eyes

Snow can barely contain herself “I have no idea what you’re talking about” She grins maniacally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [31 period tweets that will make you laugh then cry ](http://www.buzzfeed.com/caseygueren/hey-boy-are-you-my-period#.wijEGyY1ma)is a real buzzfeed article! I recommend it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the comments and kudos, you're amazing and I appreciate every one! I hope you like the update!

Emma knocks at the Mansion door. She can’t use Henry’s keys, right? (Why the fuck does she still have those?) ‘Cause it might be a date and you can’t let yourself into someone else’s house when it might be a date. 

She smooths the fabric of her top so it lies flat against her stomach. Her arm drops back to her side casually but her fingers are splayed and tense.

It doesn’t take long for Regina to answer the door, and when she does she’s in The Black Dress. The Hepburn Dress. The give-me-a-name-and-belong-to-me dress. Emma’s mouth falls open, because why wait to begin the embarrassment? 

“Hi” Regina says and presses her lips together. 

Emma doesn’t even try to stop her eyes falling down and up her again. Regina brushes hair behind her ear and smile-frowns.

It’s Emma's favourite frown and her second favourite smile (her first favourite being the Henry smile, which is like being punched in the heart). It doesn’t make her any less nervous but it does make her smile back. 

“Hi” she lifts up her bag of ingredients “pizza’s here” 

“Pizza?” There had been a slightly wary look in Regina’s eyes but it disappears as her eyebrows raise in amusement “why am I not surprised?” She steps back in invitation. 

Emma follows and stalks to the kitchen with an excess of energy.

“Drink? Your choices are beer, wine or spirits” Regina says

“Beer please”

She drinks her first very quickly as she lays out everything that she needs. 

“Truffle oil? Things are looking up” Regina says, picking up the bottle.

Emma smiles “Are you impressed?”

“That remains to be seen. It is still pizza”

Emma smiles and takes the bottle back. If her fingers brush Regina's wrist it is purely accidental and if goosebumps pepper Regina's skin they go unmentioned.

“I might have gone with Snow’s risotto if I didn't know it would poison you”

She hears the smile in Regina’s voice “the irony”

She’s a clean-as-she-goes cooker, which Regina seems to appreciate but it leaves her nothing to do. She leans on the counter and asks about her cooking. She doesn’t make fun of Emma when she admits she had to get up at the crack of dawn to make the dough before her shift. Emma glances and sees the corners of her mouth turn down, trying to hide a smile. Her questions help because they’re easy like “what kind of mushrooms are they?” and “where did you get the recipe from?”. She doesn't have to delve into her heart and their past to answer them. Chestnut, and a she made it up.

Regina passes behind her a few times and touches the small of her back. She forgets what she’s doing and opens the truffle oil. Once Regina’s hand leaves her again, she puts the lid back on, she doesn’t need it until everything else is done. She absolutely does not look when Regina bends down to pick up a bottle top she drops. 

At the end of beer two she’s feeling a little better, the pizza is in the oven and theoretically she can relax. She does a quick glance over the work surface to make sure she hasn’t forgotten anything, closes her eyes and takes a breath. If she can centre herself, focus on something calming and get her heart rate back to normal, everything might be ok. She turns around to see Regina sitting on the counter, legs crossed, glass of wine in one hand, picking at the homemade tapenade with the other. She looks like a well balanced justice of alcohol and snacks.

“Hey, that’s to go with the pizza” Emma laughs and her anxiety subsides “it's to dip the crusts in, like breadsticks”

Regina hums acknowledgement and continues to dip vegetable off-cuts into it. She might take it as a compliment if she wasn’t being completely ignored.

“Regina” Emma has to lean against her knees and reach to take a piece of tomato from Regina’s hand that she had been about to dip. She stills as Emma leans into her space, maybe closer than they've ever been without someone's life hanging in the balance “this is not the time”

Who knew Emma had the ability to slow time? Because an eternity passes while Regina looks down at her, eyes lit up and searching her face.

“This, Emma,” Her voice wraps around her name the same way it curls around her attention, until it's all she can hear. She slowly leans down and Emma doesn't want to hear anything else ever again, just her name like that, forever, but the next words from Regina’s mouth change her mind “is definitely the time”

If Emma could slow time, Regina had the ability to stop it altogether. There’s a moment when their lips are reaching, closing the gap and it’s new, it's all new but it feels familiar. She can feel them slowly crossing a boundary together until there is breath on lips and the warmth from each other’s skin. It's more intimate, more important than anything she has ever known.

Regina’s eyes sweep over her face, reading, checking and Emma watches, giving complete permission. Fingertips lift her chin gently and their lips meet.

It’s delicate, and she's gentle, being careful not to break whatever they are creating. The touch at her chin turns to a caress of her cheek. She's lost in it immediately. She can't identify any separate thing that happens after that. Her nose brushes the side of Regina's as they come up and dip again. She feels Regina’s sigh through the lips tugging hers. She can't think, her body is moving for her and the way Regina's fingers curl into her hair, somewhere in her mind she recognises hers doing the same.

She leans up and Regina’s hands cup her face as her legs uncross and pull them closer together. She breaks for a second to breathe. Her eyes catch Regina's as they flutter open. She can't believe she's this lucky. She can't believe it’s real, though it feels realer than anything she can remember. It feels safe and intimate and like the only thing in the world that makes sense. 

Her hands are flat on the counter but she can’t feel the cold of the marble seeping into them. She’s overwhelmed by the feeling of being kissed by her best friend who she’s definitely starting to think might have a crush on her. Regina brushes her hair behind her ear again and gives her a smile she has never seen before. There's a shred of something in there that she thinks no one has seen before. Her heart aches and she can't smile back. She takes Regina’s hand as it comes down and kisses her fingers. She brushes the strands that have fallen out back into place and draws them back together.

The warmth in her chest grows as she crosses that line again, as Regina lets her, as she meets her halfway. Their lips move against each other and she's dying to be closer. Her hands find Regina’s hips and pull her to the edge of the counter until the only thing keeping her there is Emma’s body. Her skirt has ridden up and Emma’s hands slide down her hips to her bare thigh.  
It’s so easy, all of it is so easy. They fit and everything feels right. Her hand brushes the edge of her skirt again and almost dip beneath it when she stops.

“What?” Regina asks as Emma’s eyes snap open.

“Are you?...shit Regina, I’m sorry but is your period over?”

She doesn’t look mad. Her eyebrows raise slowly as a smile grows over her face. 

“That’s very presumptuous of you” she manages to sound aloof with Emma crushed between her thighs

“It’s practical” Emma says with a grin

A timer beeps somewhere and Emma groans. Her head falls into Regina’s shoulder and she feels a light kiss at her temple.

“Get it, I’ll still be here” Regina says softly

‘Here’ must be a relative term because once Regina slides from the counter and pulls her dress back down to where it should be Emma hears heels clip behind her and catches her swing around the kitchen door on her way out.

She works quickly, throwing carefully prepared herbs haphazardly over the pizza and putting it back. When she finds Regina in the living room she’s not dancing exactly, but she’s moving, swaying to music as she scrolls on her phone.

“What’s this?” Emma asks

Regina turns, she doesn’t stop moving as Emma approaches, another glimpse of this woman she still has so much more of to know “A playlist I don’t remember making”

“I like it” Emma says, sliding into her space and keeping rhythm with her.

“Me too” 

Emma’s hands slink around her waist and down. Regina admirably tries and fails to hide her happiness about it. 

“Still presumptuous?”

“Incredibly”

“Good” Emma smiles and kisses her again.

Regina’s hands slide up her chest, fingertips bumping over her collarbone like she's committing every inch of her to memory. She feels tall and strong and as fingers trail up the back of her neck into her hair she wants to lift them both into the air.

She wants to let go again. She wants to lose herself in this, forget everything that exists outside of them, but something is stopping her. She pulls away slowly. There is light in Regina’s eyes she doesn’t think she has ever seen, or at least Regina has never let her see it. Her head tilts like it does when she talks to Henry.

“Wow” Emma smiles like a total dork

Regina smiles back, and though it might be as wide as Emma’s, she doesn’t look like a dork. She looks like everything she has ever wanted.

“Do you think we should talk about this?” Emma asks 

“Probably, yes” Regina says. After a pause and an almost imperceptible exhale her hands sliding back down Emma’s chest and fall to her sides. She misses them already but copies her and let's go of her waist.

“This is real, isn’t it?” Regina nods and the shadow of caution is back in her eyes. 

She doesn't want to ask, she doesn’t want to let him into this space where things feel so fragile they could break at any moment, but how can she not? 

“Robin?” She asks with reluctance that weighs on her even more heavily than say, dragging an injured mayor from a burning building.

“What about him?” Regina looks suddenly tense, her voice sounds tight

The change makes Emma regret asking in the first place. Maybe she should just take what she's given and not worry about the rest. The part of her that pushed Henry away, the part that wouldn't let her call Snow ‘mom’ for so long, the part that doesn't believe she's worthy and makes her question every good thing that comes her way, the part that she works hard to keep quiet screams that being Regina's scraps is better than being nothing at all.

“Well, what does this mean if he’s still around? Cause I don’t think I can do...that”

She's not scraps, she's no one's scraps, people choose her, Henry chose her. The look it Regina's eyes has moved from tension to confusion. She's her best friend, Emma reminds herself, she wouldn't treat her like that, would she?

“If he’s...what?” Regina shakes her head slightly like she could not have been caught more off-guard. That weight feels like it's pulling Emma down by her arms, pressing down on her shoulders. Regina’s chin tips as she searches Emma’s eyes. “Emma, I broke up with him weeks ago”

Her mind stops whirring and she’s staring again. “You...you didn’t say anything”

“Well, I was saving it for Snow’s newsletter” Regina crosses her arms

“I didn’t mean that, I just meant...that’s relevant information”

“Since when?” Regina snaps, harder than she had intended, Emma guesses as her eyes soften. 

Heat is clawing up her neck and her jaw feels tight with anxiety. “I don’t know, the last five years?”

Regina’s arms fall back to her sides “Five years?” 

“I don’t know! Sometimes I wonder if it’s just because you’re gorgeous and we’re friends and we have Henry and it’s confusing, or have we just been on the longest first date in history?”

Regina takes a step back, raising a hand between them to stop Emma following. Whatever she’s saying it is not hitting the right note.

“You’re confused?”

Fuck

“That’s not what I meant” she says, eyes widening

“It’s what you said” Regina takes another step away from her and her chest rises and falls a little faster than it had been. Her jaw clenches and her eyes tear away from her.

“Regina, please”

“So is this a test run? Because you seemed pretty sure of yourself in the kitchen. Did you want to have sex first and figure the rest out later?” She waits for a second as if Emma can answer any of that “And you think I’d be doing this with you if I was still with Robin? Unbelievable! Even for you that's unbelievable.” her voice hikes higher, it's close shouting. She turns and heads for the stairs.

“What the fuck does that mean? Regina please wait” God how does she walk so fast in heels that high? Emma poofs to the bottom of the stairs and Regina almost walks right into her. Emma’s catches her hips to prevent her from falling and drop them as soon as she regains her balance “Regina please, I’m just trying to be honest with you”

Regina’s eyes have gone from light to fire. They're so close together Emma thinks she can feel the heat from them burning into her. Regina kisses her so fiercely that for a moment she forgets everything. She kisses back like she'll be consumed by it if she doesn’t. Her arms drag them together and everything is desperate and burning. When she pulls away Emma gapes and the world takes a moment to shift back into focus. 

“That is about as honest as I can be with you, Emma”

She’s so angry and Emma is dying to fix it. The beeper goes in the kitchen and Regina storms to turn it off. She’s right behind her being ignored, repeatedly saying her name and getting no response until the timer stops.

“Regina fucking Mills, will you look at me?”

Regina turns to scowl at her “Emma,” She snaps before closing her eyes and breathing out. Her voice levels and she opens her eyes again. “If you’re confused about what you want that’s ok and it’s understandable, but I need you it figure it out without breaking my heart in the process”

“Breaking...what?!” Emma’s mind is all over the place, she can’t work fast enough to comprehend what she’s saying.

All she wants is Regina and Henry and breakfast together in the morning and kisses in the kitchen when she’s trying to cook and rubbing her feet at the end of the day. Regina turns away, covering her eyes for a moment.

“Regina? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to freak you out” Emma takes her hand and wraps it in both of hers.

“It’s taken a long time for us to get to where we are and if you need more time that’s ok.” Regina’s eyes finally meet Emma’s and they are sad “You mean a lot to me, and no matter what happens between us, that will always be the case. I know you only brought this up on Sunday and it must seem sudden.”

Realisation hits her and she understands why she was so cautious. It hasn’t been sudden for Regina, it’s been a long time coming. She’s been waiting and she’s been looking for her to be ready.

“It doesn’t seem sudden, I mean I can’t believe this is happening but this, us, it doesn’t feel too quick. I don’t need time, I just need you and our kid”

Regina’s frown isn’t a smile-frown, it’s a searching one. It’s the one from the sofa when she had looked at her so hard. There’s pain in it and there's sadness that wasn't there before. Emma hates that she put it there. She's running over everything Regina said, wrapping her head around words like ‘breaking’, ‘heart’ and ‘honest’, thinking back through their week, over every moment when she was so nervous that she missed Regina feeling the same. She remembers Regina being early to the diner to meet her and still taking time to send emails. It was because she needed a second, not because she needed to send the email. When she hadn't been in touch for three days and Henry thought Regina was being weird, she hadn't known what to do and Regina always knows what to do. 

Regina’s eyes never leave her as she thinks, as if she’s looking back with her. 

She remembers kissing her cheek by accident and how she wasn't in trouble, she just surprised her. The idea that it might have even been welcome made her ache. She goes back and back over everything until-

“Did I accidentally talk Robin into trying to get you back?”

“Yes you did, thank you for that” Regina rolls her eyes

“Shit” Emma laughs. 

She thinks it’s going to be a giggle but when Regina smirks it turns into a full laugh. Regina can’t contain the rumbling laugh of her own. What a mess. She's laughing at how much she nearly fucked everything up. It's not funny, but somehow it's hysterical. 

When she manages to straighten up and wipe under her eyes, she tugs Regina’s arm, pulling them together until their hips kind of bump.

“I am terrible at this, it’s a miracle we’ve gotten this far”

“Don’t I know it” Regina says but it’s with a smile and the laughter is slow to leave her eyes. Her hand rests on her chest again.

Emma kisses her slowly. Her hand slides into her hair as the other pulls them closer together. Regina’s fingers map her waist and the dip of her back. It’s the kiss she wanted to have before. She let’s go of everything. It should be scary to be so honest so soon, but it’s not. And it’s exactly what Regina needs. The “unf” that comes from deep in Regina’s chest makes her dizzy. She hears sighs that must belong to one of them, but she doesn't know who, and she doesn't care.

The beeper on the oven scares the crap out of both of them. They leap apart and Emma’s hand goes to her chest in shock. After a moment she pulls the pizza out and catches Regina looking when she turns around.

“Hey, my eyes are up here, lady”

“And they’re beautiful, but I wasn’t looking for them, sweetheart”

Emma drizzles truffle oil over the pizza and Regina’s stomach does absolutely not grumble.

“Not a word, Miss Swan”

“About what, Ms Mills?”

They carry food through to the dining room and sit at the corner of the table. Regina’s foot brushes up the back of Emma’s leg as they eat. It makes her want to throw the food on the floor and throw Regina on the table, but she manages to keep it together. 

The dishes are abandoned in the kitchen and whatever other plans they had are abandoned too. Emma doesn’t know which room they’re in or what time it is until the grandfather clock in the hallway chimes midnight.

“Uh oh” Emma says with her eyes closed, laid back on a sofa as Regina kisses just behind her ear and hums. “Is this where I turn into a pumpkin? Or a swan or something?”

“You’re mixing up your fairytales, dear” 

They wait until the last chime and Emma looks down at herself “Nope, I’m still me. No fairytale I guess”

“Fairytales are overrated” Regina says, eyes tracing her face like they have been all evening in the way that makes something in Emma’s chest flutter. She suppresses a yawn and Regina’s eyes sparkle.

“Sorry” She says quickly

“You’ve had a long week” Regina tucks herself into Emma’s shoulder 

“Yeah” Emma sighs “the longest”

“Maybe we can do this again sometime” Regina says. 

Emma can’t see her face, but she feels her smile against her chest and wraps her arms and legs around her. Regina laughs and lets her.

“You’ll get lipstick on your clothes” Regina says, muffled somewhere in Emma’s chest.

“If you think you have any lipstick left on your face, you are seriously mistaken”

Regina’s only response is to tighten her arms around her.

Their date ends with a kiss (okay, a lot of kisses) that delay them every couple of feet towards the front door.

“Henry has asked for movie night tomorrow if you’re free?” Regina says, fingers curling into the lapels of Emma’s coat.

“Yeah! What movie?” Emma asks, leaning into the touch

“The Parent Trap, I think?”

“That cheeky little bastard, you raised a little shit”

“Excuse me, he gets this from your side. Do you want to teach him a lesson?”

“Make out in the middle of it?” Emma asks. Regina bites down on her smile “God I love your naughty side” She says, swerving out of the path of the word ‘evil’. Regina smiles and Emma kisses her again.

“You haven’t seen my naughty side, Miss Swan” Regina says when they part. Her eyes glint and Emma feels goosebumps down her spine “but you will”


End file.
